Congratulations! You've written a book!
Now you have to market it. What? You're not a marketer, you're a writer! Why waste your time marketing when you could be writing your next piece?
My mother had a saying for a time like this:
Now you have to market it. What? You're not a marketer, you're a writer! Why waste your time marketing when you could be writing your next piece?
My mother had a saying for a time like this:
He who has a thing to sell
And goes & whispers in a well
Is not so likely to make the dollars
As he who climbs a tree and hollers!
And goes & whispers in a well
Is not so likely to make the dollars
As he who climbs a tree and hollers!
Marketing has become a lot more complicated since my mother first heard that little jingle. Nevertheless, it still comes down to the simple fact that if people don't know about your books, or your poetry, or your articles, they can't read them. And writing is meant to be read.
So during the month of September, I'm challenging you to develop your marketing skills. Every day there will be a new challenge for you to master. And every daily challenge will be something you can do, WITHOUT PAYING ANY MONEY, to make your book more visible to readers. Some will be easy, others more difficult; some quick, others more time-consuming; some you'll already have done, some will be things you've been meaning to 'get around to', and some will be new ideas for you. And we'll all be on this journey together, so if you get tired, or discouraged, we'll be there for you.
Who will benefit from taking this challenge? Well, common thinking is that you should start marketing your book at least a year before it's published, so this is not only for those who already have a published book (traditionally or self-published) but also for anyone who is about to publish. And although I say 'book', what you are really marketing is yourself as an author, so this challenge should also be useful to those who write blogs, short stories, poems or articles for magazines and anthologies.
I'm designing this challenge to be accessible to those who are just beginning to market their work, and yet challenging enough to be useful to those who have been marketing their work for a while.
I want it to be interactive and communal. You don't have to, but you'll gain more if you participate in the comments after each day's challenge. Did you complete it? Where can we view it? Ask questions, answer other participants' questions, let me know how useful each challenge was for you, or suggest alternatives if one doesn't work for you.
I'm excited about this! I know we're going to learn a lot, and push ourselves to improve our marketing skills, and have fun doing it!
I hope you'll join me this September. Meanwhile, please help spread the word about this challenge.
So during the month of September, I'm challenging you to develop your marketing skills. Every day there will be a new challenge for you to master. And every daily challenge will be something you can do, WITHOUT PAYING ANY MONEY, to make your book more visible to readers. Some will be easy, others more difficult; some quick, others more time-consuming; some you'll already have done, some will be things you've been meaning to 'get around to', and some will be new ideas for you. And we'll all be on this journey together, so if you get tired, or discouraged, we'll be there for you.
Who will benefit from taking this challenge? Well, common thinking is that you should start marketing your book at least a year before it's published, so this is not only for those who already have a published book (traditionally or self-published) but also for anyone who is about to publish. And although I say 'book', what you are really marketing is yourself as an author, so this challenge should also be useful to those who write blogs, short stories, poems or articles for magazines and anthologies.
I'm designing this challenge to be accessible to those who are just beginning to market their work, and yet challenging enough to be useful to those who have been marketing their work for a while.
I want it to be interactive and communal. You don't have to, but you'll gain more if you participate in the comments after each day's challenge. Did you complete it? Where can we view it? Ask questions, answer other participants' questions, let me know how useful each challenge was for you, or suggest alternatives if one doesn't work for you.
I'm excited about this! I know we're going to learn a lot, and push ourselves to improve our marketing skills, and have fun doing it!
I hope you'll join me this September. Meanwhile, please help spread the word about this challenge.
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